Meet the Judges
for the 2nd round
of the 2019 UP/Start
Venture Competition!
John Cammack, Managing Partner, Cammack Associates LLC
Mr. John H. Cammack serves as Managing Partner of Cammack Associates. Mr. Cammack is an Angel Investor and entrepreneur specializing in technologies advancing brain fitness, educational attainment and behavioral change. He spent 18 years in senior management at T. Rowe Price. He served as the Chair of the board of United Way of Central Maryland Inc. from July 2011 to July 23, 2013 and has been its Director since July 2011. He serves as a Director of Citelighter, Inc. Photo source: BrainFutures |
Photo source: LinkedIn
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Hakim Dyer, CEO, Dyer Bermingham
Hakim Dyer is Managing Partner of Dyer Bermingham, a management consulting firm based in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area. Dyer Bermingham specializes in strategic planning, cash flow management, and corporate financial structuring for growth oriented early stage and middle market businesses. Mr. Dyer also advises public and quasi-public entities as well as non-governmental organizations on commercial, real estate, and economic development matters. Among Mr. Dyers many achievements include 27 years in international commercial lending, real estate development, and government contracting, experienced financier, and CFO, expertise in high impact community-oriented alternative finance and significant experience with global institutional and private investors. Prior to launching Dyer Bermingham, Mr. Dyer was a Chief Financial Officer and strategic advisor for several growth-oriented technology companies including TexelTek (CFO, defense and intel data analytics), Petro Sep Global (CEO/Advisor, Canadian membrane technologies), and Alpha Technology Systems (CFO, 8(a) IT staff augmentation firm). During the earlier years of his career as a banker and financier, Mr. Dyer held a number of leadership positions as an innovator in alternative financial structures in the overlapping fields of real estate finance/development and community economic development. He has raised and/or managed over $1 billion in credit and financial facilities. Some highlights include: Founding Managing Director, Boston Community Capital Venture Fund, one of the nation’s first socially-oriented, community development venture capital funds. Won one of the first $1MM grants from the Community Development Financial Institutions fund of the U.S. Treasury. North America, Director of Al-Manzil, implementing the first securitization of a lease/purchase residential and commercial finance program in U.S. history to be compliant with Shari’ah law and fully regulated by U.S. Dept. of Treasury/Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Partner, Sustainable Capital, he designed and negotiated a “green mortgage” program to dovetail with energy audits and benefit from carbon credit offsets. Partners: Coldwell Banker, Princeton Capital. Mr. Dyer is a graduate of Dartmouth College and earned his Masters while studying at the University of Paris, L’Institut des Sciences Politiques and the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where he was one of only two students awarded the Advanced Diploma with High Honors. |
Photo source: Fastspot
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Tracey Halvorsen ‘98, President & Chief Visionary Officer, Fastspot
Tracey Halvorsen is a consultant, designer, painter, author, and speaker. Her background in visual art and computer-based technology and her hands-on style of leadership has helped Fastspot consistently create award-winning and industry recognized websites, applications and marketing campaigns. Tracey has been a speaker and presenter at numerous industry events and conferences. Her speaking career started with the groundbreaking premiere of the interactive project "Memoire" at NYC's 2001 Flash Forward conference, which went on to win the coveted Flash Film Festival award in Amsterdam. She was a panelist on one of 2010 SXSW’s most talked about presentations entitled, “We F*cked Up. Now What? Exploring Failure with Happy Cog and Friends” and spoke at the 2010 NYC Case Summit for Advancement Leaders. More recently she presented "Become a Storymaker" at Confab London and at SEER in Philly, as well as "Creating Healthy Client Relationships" at Owner Summit, Austin 2015. She also presented "The Art of Content" at the Wharton Web Conference in July 2015. In 2016 Tracey was named an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist. Halvorsen, known for her innovative thinking and creative problem solving, is never short on opinions or ways to make things better, and she shares these observations in Fastspot's blog and through in-person presentations and workshops. Tracey keeps her focus on big-picture trends and how business is evolving and transforming within the interactive marketing arena. She ensures Fastspot engages with the "right" clients and works to inspire her team and colleagues to deliver outstanding results. A native of Bethesda, Maryland, Tracey earned a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art and an MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art. She also spent time studying painting and sculpture in Lacoste, France, but her French is limited to "I'd like a beer, please." |
Photo source: Harbor Designs
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Marjie Cota, VP Strategic Partnerships & Market Development, Harbor Designs
With strategic focus to influence change, Marjie believes in Yoda’s motto, “Do or do not, there is no try”. Marjie’s leadership, communication, problem solving and strategic thinking skills were honed growing up in a naval family, working her way through College in the Residence Hall System, and participating in Cross Functional teams to achieve Customer, Employee and Financial Goals in one of the worlds largest Airline Catering companies, LSG Sky Chefs. She has also showed extreme confidence in sailing over 35,000 blue water miles in US, the Bahamas, Canada, the Caribbean and Med. Her ability to gain trust and use her network to find connectors, influencers and advisors; drives success in defining markets and impacts bottom line results in any industry. Marjie credits her ability to influence and impact change to great mentors, a competitive nature and strong work standards. |
Photo source: Florida International University | Foundation, Inc.
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Jim Wright, Co-trustee, Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation
James Wright is a resident of Bolton Hill in Baltimore, trustee of the Ratcliffe Foundation and retired lawyer for Venable LLP. Mr. Wright has more than 30 years of experience in sophisticated real estate transactions throughout the U.S. As a lawyer he represented clients in the structuring, negotiation and documentation of complex real estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, financing and leasing of real estate. He possesses a thorough knowledge of how to structure real estate transactions to minimize taxes and legal liabilities. In recent transactions, Mr. Wright has represented (1) Marriott International in connection with its acquisition of a portfolio of domestic and international hotels for a total purchase price in excess of $1,400,000,000 (2) the developer of a recent high rise office building in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore City in connection with its development, financing and leasing, and (3) the Maryland non-profit organization which is charged with creating a public/private partnership to redevelop over 70 acres of blighted area in Baltimore. Graduated with B.A. from University of Delaware and law degree from Harvard University. |